The potato is a starchy vegetable, and you should treat it like carbohydrate or grain.

Therefore, although the potato is healthy nutritionally, for purposes relating to weight loss or blood sugar management, it helps to consider the potato in the grain group when you are making food choices.

Carbohydrates have four calories per gram. So, if you compare, say a serving of green beans to a serving of potato there will be 20 calories in the green beans and 60 in the potato. That doesn’t sound like a whole lot but

The proper serving size is much smaller than you think!

Boom! Most of the time we are not eating the proper serving size (no matter how they are prepared), and we are getting way more calories than we think. If you are working on weight loss, you can quickly go past your daily calorie limit just with an oversized potato serving!

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Here’s an old standby approximation. Make a fist and pretend to pound on a table. Now, look at the top of your fist facing the ceiling. That circle you see formed, that is a proper potato serving size. Whether it is a whole potato, or if you need to, picture the opening of a 1/2 cup.

What about french fries you ask?

Most are not served by weight but by volume per container. However, a well-known fast-food chain has approximately:

2.6 oz in a small

4.0 oz in a medium

6.0 oz in a large

These are well over the 1 ounce serving size.

How good at you at eating just 4-8 fries???

Determining whether you should go ahead and eat them, or skip them all together might be influenced by the next point.

The Glycemic Index of a potato impacts how you feel

Do you ever feel sluggish or fatigued after eating potatoes-especially a lot of them? It may have rapidly raised, or ‘spiked’ your blood sugar.

A high glycemic index food turns into sugar in the bloodstream quickly. Foods are given values (based on scientific experiments and testings) of low, medium and high. Food that turns to sugar quickly will raise blood sugar levels and cannot be used for energy very long.

The goal of using a glycemic index is to eat foods that stay in the low-medium range.

If you eat food with a high GI, you would want foods with a low GI on the rest of your plate.

A high glycemic load food will cause blood sugar and insulin spikes. Spikes are typically followed by crashes, which is what we all want to avoid, but it can cause havoc for people trying to manage blood sugar levels.

The goal of using a glycemic load is to eat foods with a low glycemic index and a low glycemic load.

Folks who have diabetes, or are managing their weight should eat foods primarily with low GL and mediums, and high foods should be eaten in moderation.

Please refer to the glycemic index and glycemic load chart below.

Glycemic Index

Glycemic Load

Refers to the measure of how quickly food breaks down into sugar in your bloodstream.

< 55 Low

56-69 Medium

>70 High

Refers to the measure of how much carbohydrate of food you are getting.

< 10 low

11-19 medium

> 20 high

Potato

High

High

Cauliflower

Low

Low

Carrot

High

Low

Green Bean

Low

Low

Oatmeal

Medium

Medium

Popcorn

Low

Low

Donut

High

High

The Potato Truth

Ultimately, foods with BOTH a low glycemic index and glycemic load should be staples in your diet. AND a proper serving size is imperative. The amount of the potato is key. Eating a larger serving size may push you into a medium or high GL!

In conclusion, knowledge is power in making healthy choices.

When deciding if you should, or should not eat potatoes, the first consideration on the road to feeling better is whether you have diabetes or are someone who is trying to lose or manage your weight.

Does that answer tell you to change how you eat potatoes or maybe even your lifestyle? Then, you are already on the road to feeling better!

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About the Author

Lisa has been an RN for 25 years and has a passion for helping people make healthy choices & build healthy habits related to self-care. Check out Lisa's free tip sheet "10 Ways to Save Money on Healthcare"!

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